The University of Akron Athletics
Men's Soccer Tops Tulsa, Advances to College Cup
December 05 | Men's Soccer
The top-seeded University of Akron men's soccer team defeated
eighth-seeded Tulsa, 1-0, before 4,254 fans Saturday night at Lee
Jackson Field to advance to the College Cup for the second time in
school history and for the first time in 23 years.
With the win, the Zips (23-0-0) not only earned the right to face
fifth-seeded North Carolina (16-2-3) in Friday's NCAA semifinal in
Cary, N.C., but matched the longest, single-season win streak in
NCAA history and kept their hopes alive of becoming the first team
in 35 years to win a national championship with a perfect
record.
It all starts this weekend at the College Cup, where the Zips will
be the only non-ACC school represented - joining the Tar Heels, No.
3 Wake Forest (17-3-3) and No. 2 Virginia (17-3-3). UA will play
UNC in the second game Friday night starting at 7:30 p.m. (EST)
with the Cavaliers kicking off against the Demon Deacons at 5 p.m.
(EST).
"I am proud that we get to go and showcase our program," said UA
head coach Caleb Porter. "I am excited
to play quality opponents and some that we have never played
before. It starts with North Carolina, who plays in one of the top
conferences in the country, on Friday.
"It is important to not forget what we are in the College Cup to do
and that is to win a national championship. We are not satisfied
with where we are at now. We went into this year wanting to win a
national championship. We will enjoy this experience, but we are
there to win a national championship."
Kofi Sarkodie scored the
game's lone goal in the 17th minute by putting the finishing touch
on a perfectly-placed through ball from Blair Gavin near mid
field. Sarkodie took the pass in-stride, made a strong run to the
right post and slipped the ball over the goalkeeper's' right
shoulder into the upper-left corner of the net.
"All wins are rewarding in their own way," Porter said. "When we go
through the year and dominate as much as we have, a 1-0 game may
not feel as dominate as some of the other wins. But I thought we
made some very good plays in the first half and Kofi
Sarkodie's goal was incredible. At the end of the day, the one
goal was all we needed."
The early goal highlighted an opening half that was all Akron from
the get-go as the Zips owned a 9-1 shots advantage over the Golden
Hurricane (15-5-2), who entered play ranked third in the nation in
scoring. Akron dictated the game with its precision on the attack
and signature swarming defense while limiting Tulsa to just one
shot through the first 74 minutes of the contest.
When TU finally got some scoring chances, UA goalkeeper David
Meves was up to the task as the true freshman made a pair of
outstanding saves - denying two close-range shots by Justin Chavez
- in the game's final minutes. Meves, who broke Evan Bush's school
record (2005) with his 15th shutout of the year, finished with
three saves while logging all 90 minutes between the pipes.
As a team, the Zips added to their school-record total with their
17th shutout in 23 games. Overall, the Zips out-shot Tulsa, 12-6,
and survived four second-half corner kick opportunities by TU.
Sophomore Teal Bunbury, who leads the
nation with 17 goals on the year, was a force all game with five
shots; including three on-goal.
The Zips made their one and only appearance in the NCAA seminfinals
in 1986 when they defeated Fresno State, 1-0, to advance to the
national championship game where they suffered a 1-0 loss to
Duke.
"North Carolina is a very good team with talented individuals,"
Porter said. "But so are we. We have very explosive players and
while we're going to respect their attack, they will have to
respect us as well. We are looking forward to what is going to be
an exciting soccer game."
Zips Notebook: Akron has yet to allow a goal in
the NCAA Tournament, our-scoring its opponents, 5-0, in three
matches ... Saturday's crowd shattered the previous attendance
record at Lee Jackson Field of 2,806, set last weekend against
Stanford ... All five of the top crowds in Lee Jackson Field
history have been recorded this season ... The Zips matched Indiana
for the longest single-season win streak in NCAA history. Coach
Porter was a midfielder on that record-setting 1997 Hoosiers club
... Since 2005, UA has posted the best winning percentage in the
nation with an overall record of 86-12-11 (.839) ... The Zips
finished the season undefeated in their last 26 games (25-0-1) at
Lee Jackson Field.
